Nostalgia
by Soarrin
Summary: Jak if finally starting to feel like hs old self again, but a new guy in haven has a big intorest in the Dark worrior Program and Jak's Dark eco powers. Will Jak finally start to fell happy again, or will Soarrin's dark experaments end up making it worse?
1. Chapter 1

"Did you send the files I asked for?" a young, slightly scratchy voice asked from the other side of the communicator. His voice, although having an unquestionably powerful tone to it, sounded as though it came from someone no older than 20. The guard hesitated at the unfamiliar voice.

"Well?" the communicator barked at him. There was a slight hint of static creeping in on the transmission.

"Ur... yes- uh, we already sent them in on the transport. It should reach the palace in approximately 5 minutes." The guard wasn't exactly sure how to address this foreign voice on the line.

There was a pause.

Assuming the strange voice was finished with him, he nestled back down into the seat of his parked police zoomer and began rubbing the end of his gun with the fabric part of his glove. There was nothing to clean, considering he never used it, but if he continued to sit watching the ghost-like citizens walk by him any longer, he wouldn't be able to stay awake.

_Patrol the southern slums... _he thought to himself bitterly. What the hell is there to patrol? The people down in this part of Latrill city were too scared to walk outside of the dotted line on the sidewalk. There was nothing to do around here.

Before he had time to ponder this any longer, static loudly screeched over the communicator. The sound made him jump slightly, and was soon followed by the young voice again.

"Commander," The voice said calmly, the static partly muffling it.

"I'm not a-"

"Where exactly are you?" It asked. The guard was surprised by how casual the voice sounded. He sounded more like a civilian, rather than a military officer. It was a big change from the harshness of it a moment ago.

He began to grow suspicious.

"Southern slums" he stated gruffly.

"Oh, so... you didn't see the files?"

"Who is this?" the guard snapped.

There was another pause.

"I am the one who requested the files..." His voice, although a pitch lower, sounded innocent.

"And who asked for the files?" The guard pressed.

"Watch the way you speak guard." the voice lashed suddenly, all innocents gone. "You had best be happy you were not the one to pass on those files. But don't push your good fortune by acting like an ass."

He was deferentially young, that was for sure, but the way he spoke was harsh, and extremely intimidating. But this guard was not going to show respect to anyone he did not absolutely have to. Especially some smart mouth brat.

"And just who the hell are you to try and threaten me?! What if I did look at the files? What can a little brat like _you _possibly do to _me_?"

The guard immediately regretted lashing out like that. God only knows who he could be talking to. But his pride prevented him from taking it back.

After a moment of static, the voice returned. His tone was cool and pleasant.

"That was all I needed to hear." And the line went dead.

"Section 5174, security D. Kill him for me please." The young man asked the guard next to him as he hooked the communicator back on to his belt. The guard nodded and headed out of the room. Before the young man could turn to sit down, another guard came back into the room with a packet of files in his hand. He had the same uniform as the one before, but it was colored blue, instead of red.

"Sir, the files you requested." the guard stated. He held out the files in front of the young man. The man stared back at the guard with an almost angry expression.

"uh... sir?"

"I requested only type A security solders to handle these. You are type D." the young man stated. "Did you look at these files?" He had a disgusted look on his face. Although he was much smaller than the guard, he seemed almost scary when he wore this face. The look through the guard off.

"uh, I... you requested the files..." the guard couldn't get out a clean sentence. This was something he hadn't expected. Type A soldiers? For a pack of old files?

Immediately, the young man's expression changed. Instead of a harsh frown, it was now a pleased smile. "Alright then, your excused for the day, but I need you to do me a favor." the guard was confused, but relieved that he was off the hook. He simply nodded.

"Can you go and check on the guard down in the Southern Slums for me? Just to make sure he is alright? He seems to be having a bit of trouble. He is in section 5174." He had an innocent expression on his face as he asked this; his big green eyes that a moment ago looked deadly, made it look like he was asking this of a close friend.

As the guard nodded, the young man took the files out of his hand and excused him. When the guard left, the boy sat down on the corner of the huge table in the middle of the room and took out his communicator again. "Security A, I'm sending one more down there. Kill them both if you don't mind."

"Yes sir." the transmission replied. He gave a satisfied smile and hooked the communicator back on to his belt.

He looked back down at the files in his hand. How long he had been waiting to get these. How hard he had worked. And now, he could finally begin his research.

On the front of the files, it read 'Dark Warrior Program'


	2. Chapter 2 Memories

The stars shined brightly over Sandover Village, lighting it up with life. The shores glittered as the waves gently curled over the sandy beaches, and the clouds in the night sky were few and far between. An all over perfect night, but then, when was it not a perfect night here in Sandover?

But Jak and Daxter, of course, had to find a way to fix that.

"Jak! What are you doing?!" Daxter squawked. He scurried over to the edge of the dock where Jak was un-hooking the old fisherman's boat.

"Jak?!" Daxter yelled again. When he reached the edge of the dock, Jak had already hopped in the boat.

"Shush!" Jak whispered. Daxter noticed the devious look on Jak's face as he went over to the boat's controls. He knew that look all too well.

"Jak, just what are y ou planning on doing? If old fish-breath catches us out here, we're fish food!" Daxter said, now in a loud whisper. Jak continued to ignore him and began fiddling with the controls. Daxter should have known better than to expect a response right away. The dude hardly ever says anything.

Hoping to get an answer, he tried to wobble himself into the boat, only to slip and fall on his face in the process. Would it kill that old man to put in a door? His fall made a loud thud that caught Jak's attention. Jak laughed quietly at the all too familiar sight of Daxter fallen on the ground, and went over to help up his friend. Poor Daxter was so uncoordinated, it was a miracle the boy could walk on his own.

"Calm down Dax, I was just gonna take it out for a little joy rid e." Jak said with a smile.

"Oh, he speaks!" Daxter yelled sarcastically. He was obviously a little mad about falling, but you'd think the boy would be used to it by now.

"Shhhh!" Jak hushed him again. Daxter gave an aggravated "humph" but obeyed. Jak could tell that even though Daxter was afraid of getting caught, he wanted to do this as much as he did. He would have put up a bigger fight than that if he didn't. Daxter isn't one to fall into peer pressure.

After making sure his friend was alright, he went back over to the controls and began fiddling with them again. This was a little unfamiliar to him. Jak has used ancient precursor technology, tested Keira's crazy zoomer prototypes, and has gone through dozens of teleporters, but he has never driven a boat before. Without thinking, he reached out for a big lever that stuck out in front of the rest of them and pulled it. Big mistake.

The boat jutted forward, throwingthem both back onto the wooden floor of the boat. Jak's head crashed hard onto the floor with a loud crack. He hoped that was the wooden floor making that noise and not his head. When he tried to sit up, a strong wave of dizziness hit him, knocking him back down onto the floor. He lay on the ground for a moment waiting for the dizziness to pass before he tried to pull himself back up again. His head throbbed in unison with the waves of dizziness. He couldn't see very well, due to the dizziness, but he was able to see the boat's railing next to him. Using it, he pulled himself upright. He was surprised by the onslaught of strong wind that hit him as soon as he was up, almost pushing him back over. He managed to get a good hold on the railing and tried to see what was happening. He could see the water over the side of the railing rushing past him at an extremely fast pace, sprinkling his face with water. To the left of him was the stern of the boat where its fan was spinning wildly. Behind that he saw the beach of Sandover getting farther and farther away.

"-ak!" He barely heard Daxter's voice from behind him. Jak turned to the other side of him to see Daxter . He was sitting, almost lying, on the floor of the boat, ducking down to keep from getting blown back from the wind. He looked as though he was trying to yell because his mouth was moving and he had a scowl on his face, but it was impossible to make out anything he was saying. The wind was thrashing past them at an alarming rate, and all they could hear was the muffled sound of the wind, and the boat's large fan spinning in their ears. Just how fast was this thing going?

He was then able to realize what had happened. The sudden jolt of the boat starting had thrown Jak back to the end of the boat, separating him from the controls. He needed to stop this boat before they got too far out to sea; they were already so far out from what he had just seen. Jak looked back at where he was, and, still clinging to the side of the boat, started to drag himself over, inch by inch to the controls. The wind was brutal, it made it impossible for him to stand upright, and it impaired his vision to the point where he was practically blind. He had to dig his nails into the wooden railing, using every ounce of strength he could to move forward. He was making it there, slowly but surely, but it had drained his energy to almost zero. He could feel his muscles burn in protest.

Finally he was almost close enough to reach the controls. By that time desperation was hitting him. It had taken so long just to get there! They must already be out so far to sea. He tried to pull himself closer, but he couldn't muster enough strength to move himself. He could feel his grip on the boat giving out; his hands were starting to slip. In a last attempt to keep himself from falling back from the wind, he reached out toward the controls in the hopes of20grabbing the lever he had pulled earlier. He reached out as far as he could against the brutal wind, but his strength had failed him.

Just before he the wind threw his arm back, he felt something grab his hand. When he looked to see what it was, he felt a searing pain of something in his hand creeping down his arm and into his body. He screamed in horror at it, although the sound was muffled by the wind.

It was unlike anything he had felt before; it felt as though every cell of his being was being filled with unwanted energy. The suffocating pain coiled itself inside of him, creeping down through his hand and down through his body. The more that entered and filled his body, the more agonizing it became. He thought his body20would be ripped apart at any moment. Out of desperation, he struggled to control his screams and tried to see what was causing him this pain. He saw a shaded figure standing upright as though the wind was not there. His face was not visible, and his body was a haze. About the only thing that was visible was his hand. It was holding on to Jak's, and it had sickly streams of purple electricity emitting out of it that seemed to be connecting itself with Jak's body. Jak desperately tried to release himself, but it was useless. The person had an iron grip.

He could feel this strange energy taking over his body. It was unbearable. Jak couldn't hold it back any more. He screamed at the waves of electricity coursing themselves inside of him, overwhelming everything. He could feel his body fill to the brink with this strange energy, his hand the man held now numb, until he was sure he _was_ being ripped apart. He continued to scream in agony as everything around him began fading into the same purple haze, until nothing was left except him and this strange being torturing him with this horrid purple energy.

--

Jak woke up screaming. He jerked himself upright and covered his mouth with his hands to muffle his screaming that escaped his mouth until it finally stopped. He was panting heavily and he could feel sweat rolling down the side of his face. His throat was sore, and he felt as though he had just been beaten. The horrible image of that pain covering, taking over him, suffocating him with the purple energy, was all he could see. He tried desperately to pull himself away from the image in his head; tried concentrating on his breathing, on calming down, but it was difficult. Adrenaline was racing throughout his body.

Eventually, as he managed to make his breathing slow a little, he was able to pull himself away from the image by observing his surroundings. Everything was dark except for a dim orange glow a few feet away from him. As his eyes adjusted, he found himself on a shallow cliff top covered in grass. He was sitting next to a giant bolder at the edge of the cliff that gave him and his now dead fire shelter from the wind. Off the edge cliff, about 100 feet down was the ocean, and to the opposite side was a distant city. In between him and the city were a few grassy fields and a bit of rough terrain.

His realization brought him relief and sorrow. Relief because the man and the torture he just experienced was not real. Sorrow because he was not in Sandover with his friend; He was on the outskirts of Haven city.

But that wasn't only this that made him feel sorrow, it was that pain. Jak knew what that pain was, and it was something he has experienced for two long years.

Dark Eco.

He put his elbows on his knees and rested his head on his hands. This was the fourth time this week he has had this dream. Every time he would wake up at the same point in the dream, from his screaming. What's worse was the eco seemed to feel more real each time. This time it really felt like he was under the baron's probe again. He shuddered. That time of his life was the only point where dark eco really hurt that bad, those two Godforsaken years in prison. After his body turned into Dark Jak for the first time, channeling it wasn't really that painful anymore. It still felt awful, but it wasn't the same pain as before. It was mostly just hard to take, and at times it could often be unbearable.

But in a way that horrified Jak. Dark eco was the last thing he wanted to get used to.

When his breathing was back to normal, and the adrenaline subsided, he lied back down, and stared up at the sky. The sky was brightly lit with stars that faded toward the east. His intention was to sleep, but as usual, after having that nightmare, sleep was not possible.

He lay there for a while letting his mind wander away from the dream. He'd guessed the nightmares were because he had gotten in the habit of not sleeping for several days, weeks even, and now that he had found time to get a decent amount of sleep, it was throwing him off.

His mind wandered back to how this happened; how he got so much time to sleep. The memories were ones he wouldn't mind forgetting. Doing a bunch of stupid missions for Wastelanders that should be able to take care of themselves was just frustrating to think about.

Things had been really hectic in the Spargus ever since King Damas died, so Jak had been there for a while helping out. You'd think since King Damas was Jak's father, that he would inherit the throne. But it turns out, he, as usual, has been doing all the dirty work. He didn't mind, Sig was doing a bang-up-job as the king, but he would like it if he didn't have to take care of _everything_ for them. Damn metal heads were going crazy over there. It's like they got tired of attacking Haven, so they went for Spargus. What made it all worse was that Daxter couldn't be there with him. Tess had convinced him to stay in Haven (God only knows how), so Jak was in it alone. He didn't hold it against Daxter though, he only intended to be gone a few weeks, but one situation lead to another, and it ended up taking several months.

But finally, Spargus seemed to have mellowed out, so Jak could go back to his friends in Haven. Unfortunately, communications between Spargus and Haven have been out for a while, so Jak couldn't take a transport back. He ended up having to use an old zoomer the wastelanders had stashed and drive back himself. It was a long and dull journey on a zoomer, but at least he had found time to sleep along the way.

Jak probably could have made it into Haven yesterday, but he decided he needed one more night on his own before he meet up with his friends again. All the missions he had been on in the wastelands have left him exhausted, and although he was looking forward to coming home, he knew they would probably have some mission waiting for him as soon as he got there. So he wanted to get just a little more rest in.

But seeing as how rest only left him more unsettled than when he was awake, Jak was kind of looking forward to not sleeping again.

He sat up once again and tried to think of something other than the stress waiting for him. He considered thinking about his friends, and how much he missed them. He missed Daxter's obnoxious voice that always managed to cheer Jak up, Keira's optimistic attitude, Ashlin's bad attitude, Torn's stupid never-ending frown, and even that old sage's ratings. He was really looking forward to seeing them all again...

Wait. Since when did Jak become so… so caring? Jak has always cared deeply for his friends, but ever sense he came to Haven three years ago, his attitude towards that sort of thing has hardened over a lot. The last time he was able to think so softly of someone was when20they were in Sandover, back before his mind was constantly cluttered with petty missions and the constant anger the dark eco inflicted on him.

Come to think of it, over the past few weeks, his anger had subsided immensely. Jak became used to having an unyielding rage burning inside of him ever since he had been exposed to dark eco, even after the Baron died. He expected to feel better once that horrible man was dead, but it actually made him angrier. Even after he was exposed to light eco, his rage persisted, even though the pain dissipated. Over time he managed to suppress it, and only let his anger out in battles when he went Dark Jak. But it has always been there, always making things more difficult. Jak eventually stopped getting close to anyone, even Keira, letting himself harden over, because it was a struggle to contain his anger around people. The only person he didn't re ally have to try really hard with was Daxter, and even then it wasn't always easy.

But recently, he noticed that he just wasn't that angry any more. He couldn't understand why, he hadn't absorbed any less dark eco than he had before, or any more light eco for that matter, and having to do a ton of stupid missions shouldn't put anybody in a good mood... perhaps he was just hanging on to resentment before, still angry about all20the misfortune that had plagued him, and now he was just now starting to finally get over it. Or perhaps it was because he has been thinking about Sandover a lot; remembering his old home, the adventures they went on, and the uncrushably optimistic attitude he once held. He hadn't given those old memories a second thought ever since he got here, simply dismissing the old joyful life as part of the past. But now that he began thinking about it again and how much he missed it, it almost made him feel like his old self again…..

It was then that he noticed it was beginning to get lighter outside. The sun was starting to peek over the snow-covered mountains toward the west, making the dark blue sky turn a dull orange color. Morning...

He decided he might as well head off for Haven now. He figured it would take another two hours or so to get there, so everyone should be awake by then. It beats sitting here doing nothing.

Jak slowly pulled himself off the ground and gave a big stretch over his head, causing a few joints to pop. He couldn't wait to sleep in a bed again, if he could actually get a good night's sleep. Before he got ready to leave, Jak looked to his right over to2 0the ocean. It was beautiful, just as he remembered. The fading stars in the sky made the water glitter, the strange green star shining the brightest. Back in Sandover, Jak would always sneak off and spend his nights on a cliff much like this one just watching the stars and the ocean. It gave him the strangest feeling of peace and security, one that he couldn't find anywhere else. Looking at it now almost made him feel the same happiness he once felt before. It almost made him feel like he was back home again.


	3. Chapter 3 Haven city

Haven city.

What a hell hole.

It's amazing how no matter what you do in this city, no matter how hard you work; it always manages to get worse. You'd think that now that the Baron is dead, the metal head king is dead, and the dark makers are dead, that things might finally get just a little bit better. Who else was there to kill?

Or rather, who else was there for Jak to kill?

But that would be too much to ask. Haven city is a hell hole after all.

The streets of Haven were just as sorry as usual. The citizens walked up and down the bro ken streets, some occasionally stopping to help out with the rubble that were laying around from recent attacks, others simply continuing on their way, completely used to the scene of a destroyed building or two. There were not as many zoomers in the streets as there used to be, only one or two on each street. This left plenty of room for Keira to make her way through the streets with little trouble.

She did her best to ignore the depressing scene of the hopeless citizens below her as she drove by. It always cut her deep to see them like this, knowing that there wasn't much they could do to help them. It was like those expressions of sorrow were burned into their skin; they never change.

Dawn was now lighting the streets, making it easier to maneuver the giant zoomer she was lugging around. Keira was not accustomed to driving zoomers this big, not that she drove very much to begin with. But this thing was huge! And it didn't help that she had to take it through the back way to get to headquarters. Stupid unnecessary precautions.

Torn was insistent that driving this thing through the main way was 'dangerous'. He didn't want to risk anything happening to his precious 'ammo'. Which was understandable, considering how bad they need it right now, and how if one member of the rebellion saw it and tried to attack them, it would be devastating to every living creature in that sector. But he could have been a little more concerned about the fact that _Keira_ was risking her ass to get it.

She sighed. She can't afford to think like that anymore. What she does for the war effort is more important than what happens to her. The 'ammo' she was bringing back is more important than her life. Keira was just so accustomed to being the one looked out for. She was never the one out there risking her neck like this. Jak was always the one out there doing all the dangerous stuff; always out there fighting, killing, almost being killed… He, along with the other men in the war effort were always the ones out there dying so Keira and other citizens could be safe.

The thought made her sick. How selfish she had been! Always sitting back and letting them fight for her. And trying to justify herself by saying her inventions would 'help them out'. Pah! Her inventions were dated back 500 years. Whenever she made something new, she found it had already been made and replaced by something more advanced. Maybe if she had gone back in time when she had the chance, her inventions would have been useful to someone back then.

No, she had to help now. Not because she felt obligated, but because they really needed the help. More than half the guards the war effort had left to join the rebellion. They were so lacking in numbers they had to get everyone they could to fight. Including Keira.

But they needed more than that. They needed Jak.

She shook her head immediately. _Can't afford to think like that anymore. He'll get back when he gets back. In the mean time we have to take care of ourselves._

She looked back behind her at the barrels of refined dark eco in the back of the over-sized zoomer, and then to the large zoomer following her carrying the same amount of barrels. Keira couldn't believe how much Dark eco Soarrin was able to get. There were literally hundreds of barrels of the stuff in her zoomer alone, and there were 4 identical zoomers following her. Where anyone gets this much dark eco was beyond her. And how on earth do you use Dark eco as ammo anyway? The only way she has ever heard of using the stuff as a weapon was in Jak's case. She shuddered.

But Torn is convinced that they have found a way to use it for a 'devastating' new weapon they are making. Ridiculous. Dark eco is not something you can just use like that. It is insanely dangerous to even be near the stuff, let alone cram it into a gun.

But Keira had to do her job and hope they are right about this. She just hoped she wouldn't have to use this 'new weapon' of theirs.

The barrels were strapped down tight, but that wasn't enough to comfort her. She was absolutely terrified that one of the barrels might fall out. Dark eco had always terrified her, and ever since she had heard about what happened to Jak, she downright hated the stuff. That damned eco took her old sweet, happy Jak away from her, and left an angry, sometimes scary Jak behind. Not only that, but it hurt him. It hurt him to a point that is unforgivable, and it's still hurting him now. She knew that even though those horrible experiments have stopped, and the light eco saved him from destroying himself, he is still in pain. Even though he tries to hide it, Keira could always see it inside of him. The anguish, the anger, the pain…..

Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt by a loud explosion. She couldn't see the explosion, but she could hear it come from the direction in front of her. It was close, probably just around the corner. The buildings around her shuddered, sprinkli ng dust on the people near them. She stopped as fast as her huge zoomer would allow and stared in front of her. The few citizens that were on the street were frozen as well. They all stared in the direction of the blast. Waiting.

Another blast. The building directly in front of them burst into a huge cloud of smoke and rubble flying outward. The sound shook the zoomers, the barrels rattling behind them. Keira would have looked back to make sure one hadn't fallen out, but she couldn't take her eyes off of the image in front of her. She knew this meant only one thing.

"THE REBELLION!" One of the citizens screamed. It was followed by many screams and panicked voices as they all ran the opposite way.

"Shit shit shit!" she squeaked as she fumbled for her communicator strapped to her belt. Her hands were shaking viciously, making it difficult. She ripped her eyes off the destroyed building in front of her long enough to un-strap the communicator off of her belt. When she got a hold of it she barked into it, "The rebellion found us! Everyone fall back! I repeat. Fall ba-" She was cut off by another exploding building, this time one that was almost directly on her right. The sound violently shuddered the vehicles even more viciously than the last time, the barrels of dark eco clattering together loudly. She tried to look back to see if they were still all there when a wave of dust and debris completely covered them, impairing eyesight almost completely. Bits of the building rained down on them, burning their skin. They needed to get out of there now.

The communicator fell to the floor of the zoomer as she grabbed the wheel and cranked it to the left as hard as she could, slamming on the gas. The other zoomers did the same, making them now in front of her.

"Go go!" she yelled. The zoomers, being such a large size, slowly started creeping forward.

"Damn it!" It was only a matter of time before an explosion hit them. Bigger pieces of the building were now hitting them, causing dents in the vehicles and in the barrels. She was sure they would lose some of the eco now, but there was nothing she could do now. They had to get out of there.

She could hear new voices behind her now. Not screams of terror, but the roar of soldiers yelling to attack. A few months ago that sound would have been comforting to her, but now those soldiers were no longer fighting for them, they were against them.

The rebellion.

--

It was almost noon when Jak reached the gates of Haven city. It had taken him much longer than it should have, but he had to take it slow. His stupid zoomer was running on its last reserves of gas. He just hoped it would last him long enough to get back to head quarters. He supposed he could get a ride, if worst came to worst, but he would rather not have to do that if he didn't have to. Resorting to hijacking zoomers was one thing he didn't want to do anymore. The citizens hated him enough already without the grudge of stolen zoomers added on to it. But walking all the way there? Come on.

He rummaged through his bag to find his security pass. Hopefully it would still work. It has been a while, and Torn loves to 'update' anything and everything that was originally the Baron's design. He is so convinced that he can fix everything, even the things that don't necessarily need to be fixed.

When he found it, he held it up to the scanner and thankfully heard the typical welcoming robotic voice greet him.

"It's good to see you still alive." It said pleasantly as the large metal doors loudly clanged open. He never understood why they installed a welcoming system into these things. He walked through the doors, pulling his outdated zoomer with him. When he was through, the large doors slammed shut behind him loudly, almost too loudly to sound intentional.

He found himself in the slums of the city. All around him were broken down houses and crumbling streets. The few gloomy faces that walked this part of the city were just downright pathetic to look at. If it was possible, the city looked even worse than he remembered. He must have made his way through one of the old exits the KG used to use. Many of these old exits have been abandoned and forgotten due to the fact that hardly anyone leaves the city.

He hoped this was the only part of the city like this. When he left, it seemed as though Torn and Ashlin were actually making improvements on the city. Some were a little…unnecessary, but for the most part they seemed to be doing the city some good. Could they have just forgotten about this part of the city?

Well, he guessed he would find out sooner or later. He always did.

He hopped on his zoomer and changed hover zones. It barely made it up there, but when it did, he headed for headquarters.

Passing through the slums was just as it had always been; long, tedious, and depressing. There were only a few people out on the streets, and those that were looked as though they didn't want to be. When Jak drove by the sound of the zoomer almost seemed to startle them. _Gawd._

When he was reaching the end of the slums, he noticed something different. The streets were completely bare of people, and what seemed to be rubble cluttered the streets. All the gloomy faces he saw on the streets before were gone. Many of the buildings around him were either partially or completely broken down. He could see a slight hint of smoke in the sky in front of him. Without thinking he directed himself toward the direction of the smoke. His zoomer wheezed.

"C'mon don't die on me yet!" Jak yelled. Damn, even if he did want to hijack a zoomer he couldn't now. There were no zoomers on the street! He lowered hover zones in hopes it would help keep it alive.

Though it protested, the zoomer trudged on, wheezing and puffing along the way. He would have to get there soon or it would be a long walk back to headquarters. He sighed.

It was slightly difficult to maneuver around the rubble on the streets. Several times he had to get off his zoomer and move debris just so he could get by. The further along he went, the worse the streets looked. It kind of looked as though some of the buildings were blown up. While he drove, he couldn't think of a reason for all of this. _What the hell happened around here? It just can't be possible that Haven has gotten worse. It just can't be. Had something else decided to attack the city? Was the city just falling apart? They wouldn't demolish this part of the city would they? Would Torn go so far as to completely start over in building this part of the city?_

A horrible sensation in his foot tore him away from his thoughts. The feeling was slight, but then it quickly turned harsh and almost painful. When he looked down, he saw a dark purplish liquid splotch on his foot that had streams of purple electricity emitting from it. Jak immediately slammed on the breaks, causing the zoomer to jolt and spin on to its side, throwing him off onto his back into a small pile of rubble.

Jak, slightly disoriented from the fall, sat up and quickly reached for his foot where he saw the dark eco. His foot was now almost completely numb and shaking, the eco's electrical discharge increasing. Frantically, but careful not to touch the eco with his hands, he unstrapped his boot and ripped it off. He threw it away from him, and quickly grabbed his numb leg out of reflex. It was still shaking, but the feeling was slowly returning to it.

He realized then that he was panting heavily, having been panicked, and his heart was racing. He tried to calm himself, concentrating on his breathing, on the fact that it was just dark eco. Just dark eco. He absorbs it all the time…..

When he managed to calm himself, he was able to feel several stinging pains on his back. The pile of rubble he fell in was quite jagged, several of the edges having jabbed him in the back when he fell. Carefully, he lifted himself up, scratching up his palms slightly in the process. Across from him was his zoomer, now crashed into the wall. Great.

_What the hell was that? _He thought, looking back at his boot lying a few feet away from him. His leg had full feeling in it now, but he could feel the dark eco that he had absorbed in it, the energy making its way up through his leg and into his body. He had to absorbed quite a bit for him to be able to be affected this much. Usually he can't really feel it so much when he absorbs small amounts. But that feeling was horrible.

_Where did that dark eco come from? And how did it get on my foot?_ He thought. He walked over to his shoe to examine it. The eco on it had dissipated slightly, causing its purple glow to be duller than usual. But this eco was different than what he usually sees. The dark eco was in a liquid form, not in the electrical form he is accustomed to… Liquid dark eco? Jak has seen it like this several times in a liquid form, it was the same dark eco form that turned Daxter into an ottsle. But this eco was different; when dark eco is in a liquid form, it looks blackish, and is usually deadly, even to Jak. But this eco was purplish color, and it didn't hurt Jak like it should have. Instead of burning him, he was absorbing it.

He had heard of a method of taking liquid Dark eco and tampering with it to make a refined version of it. 'Purifying' it, as some people have called it. Many people said the old baron had made purified dark eco in order to create the absorbable eco he used in his experiments. But this type of eco supposedly is not only near impossible to make, but it is even more dangerous than typical dark eco, because it doesn't have the imperfections and other elements in it. Eventually, the baron had to discontinue his research on the liquid dark eco form and used only the electrical form for his experiments. He cringed at the thought.

Well, whatever the type was, it is dark eco, and dark eco should not be in Haven city. Not anymore.


End file.
